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<h1><a href="../cli/npm-link.html">npm-link</a></h1> <p>Symlink a package folder</p>
<h2 id="synopsis">SYNOPSIS</h2>
<pre><code>npm link (in package dir)
npm link [&lt;@scope&gt;/]&lt;pkg&gt;[@&lt;version&gt;]

alias: npm ln</code></pre><h2 id="description">DESCRIPTION</h2>
<p>Package linking is a two-step process.</p>
<p>First, <code>npm link</code> in a package folder will create a symlink in the global folder
<code>{prefix}/lib/node_modules/&lt;package&gt;</code> that links to the package where the <code>npm
link</code> command was executed. (see <code><a href="../misc/npm-config.html">npm-config(7)</a></code> for the value of <code>prefix</code>). It
will also link any bins in the package to <code>{prefix}/bin/{name}</code>.</p>
<p>Next, in some other location, <code>npm link package-name</code> will create a
symbolic link from globally-installed <code>package-name</code> to <code>node_modules/</code>
of the current folder.</p>
<p>Note that <code>package-name</code> is taken from <code>package.json</code>,
not from directory name.</p>
<p>The package name can be optionally prefixed with a scope. See <code><a href="../misc/npm-scope.html">npm-scope(7)</a></code>.
The scope must be preceded by an @-symbol and followed by a slash.</p>
<p>When creating tarballs for <code>npm publish</code>, the linked packages are
&quot;snapshotted&quot; to their current state by resolving the symbolic links.</p>
<p>This is handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and
test it iteratively without having to continually rebuild.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-redis    # go into the package directory
npm link                    # creates global link
cd ~/projects/node-bloggy   # go into some other package directory.
npm link redis              # link-install the package</code></pre><p>Now, any changes to ~/projects/node-redis will be reflected in
~/projects/node-bloggy/node_modules/node-redis/. Note that the link should
be to the package name, not the directory name for that package.</p>
<p>You may also shortcut the two steps in one.  For example, to do the
above use-case in a shorter way:</p>
<pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-bloggy  # go into the dir of your main project
npm link ../node-redis     # link the dir of your dependency</code></pre><p>The second line is the equivalent of doing:</p>
<pre><code>(cd ../node-redis; npm link)
npm link redis</code></pre><p>That is, it first creates a global link, and then links the global
installation target into your project&#39;s <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p>
<p>Note that in this case, you are referring to the directory name, <code>node-redis</code>,
rather than the package name <code>redis</code>.</p>
<p>If your linked package is scoped (see <code><a href="../misc/npm-scope.html">npm-scope(7)</a></code>) your link command must
include that scope, e.g.</p>
<pre><code>npm link @myorg/privatepackage</code></pre><h2 id="see-also">SEE ALSO</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="../misc/npm-developers.html">npm-developers(7)</a></li>
<li><a href="../files/package.json.html">package.json(5)</a></li>
<li><a href="../cli/npm-install.html">npm-install(1)</a></li>
<li><a href="../files/npm-folders.html">npm-folders(5)</a></li>
<li><a href="../cli/npm-config.html">npm-config(1)</a></li>
<li><a href="../misc/npm-config.html">npm-config(7)</a></li>
<li><a href="../files/npmrc.html">npmrc(5)</a></li>
</ul>

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<p id="footer">npm-link &mdash; npm@6.4.1</p>

